Absolute Zero
by SharpieMassacre
Summary: "If she were gone there would be a void… an emptiness like all around me but there isn't. I feel her." As emotions flare see as Timmy and the specialists cope with Tecna's sacrifice into the Omega portal. Season 3.
1. Chapter 1: Melting Point

**For anyone who isn't familiar with where the title came from, absolute zero is when temperatures are at 0 Kelvin (the coldest temperature possible). Without getting into quantum mechanics and thermodynamics it is the point where molecular motion is "halted", much like how Timmy '"stopped" everything in his life to find and invent a device to find Tecna.**

**Also the name deals with cold temperatures, and Tecna is trapped in the cold Omega Dimension so I thought the title was suiting in that way as well. **

**Summary: "If she were gone there would be a void… an emptiness like all around me but there isn't. I feel her." As emotions flare see as Timmy and the specialists copes with Tecna's sacrifice into the Omega portal. Season 3.**

**Last note; dialogue (used in this first chapter only) is from the Rai dub version of Winx; not 4Kids.**

Absolute Zero

Chapter 1: Melting Point

_Definition: The temperature when an object changes from a solid to a liquid state. It is often due to pressure and the results can be permanent._

Timmy stared hopelessly into his military history textbook as he tried to memorize specific battles and famous commanders from over eons of history. Sure this ginger specialist was one of the top students at Red Fountain, but that was mainly because his strengths were in mathematics, science, and anything that required analyzing. Memorizing a mountain of facts, people, and dates was just not his forte.

He sighed in defeat as he closed his textbook, shut his desk lamp off, and got up from his desk chair. It was nearly midnight, and Timmy felt his eyelids slowly get heavier by the minute. He avoided waking up his roommate and silently went over to his bed and plopped himself down onto it; exhausted. He peered over at Riven who was fast asleep like a cocoon in his bed. Recently the dorm had been much quieter than expected, but nowadays it was common to find the dorm in this state of desertion. Sky and Brandon were still stuck on Eraklyon because of the woe Diaspro caused, which only left himself, Helia, and Riven living in the dorm.

Timmy stared longingly at his dark ceiling in deep thought. He hated how quiet things were, and it was starting to drive him mad. The eerie silence of the dorm and his concern for Tecna was driving him up the wall. Earlier that day, Tecna had texted him that the girls were going to Andros to prevent the Omega Portal from being opened. Even Timmy knew how dangerous the opening of the Omega Portal would be, and he could only hope the girls would be as successful in closing the portal. There was no telling what exactly would happen if the portal was kept open, but Timmy was sure it would have some sort of shockwave effect on the other realms. He wished they could have joined them, but Codatorta and Saladin made it clear that they were to stay on campus in case of an attack from Valtor or the Trix. Tonight he could not stop himself from worrying about the Winx Club, most especially Tecna. It was past midnight now and none of the remaining Specialists had heard back from the girls. Until he heard back from one of them, he was going to continue and worry.

Just as he was dozing off he suddenly heard a cell phone go off from the end table next to him. In the state of grogginess he reached for it but suddenly realized this wasn't his phone; it was Riven's. He grumbled at the fact Riven always seemed to leave his stuff everywhere in their dorm, and he had no care whatsoever about it. As the phone continued to ring loudly Riven remained unstirred from slumber, and Timmy decided to give up and answer it to make the ringing stop.

Timmy cleared his throat as best as he could. "Err…Riven's phone, Timmy speaking."

"Timmy!" he heard Musa's voice sob over the phone. Musa crying? Musa never cried, so something must be really wrong. He heard Musa's faint voice talk to the other Winx Club members, "Girls, its Timmy… Wh-what should I say? Do I…? No? Okay." He failed to hear anymore of Musa's side conversation.

"Musa? Is everything alright?" Timmy spoke timidly to the music fairy. Just hearing her voice he could tell she was in turmoil, and she was hurt. Did the girls fail the mission? No, it was not possible or else he would have known about the escalating chaos from Andros. What else could have happened though?

He could hear Musa trying to suppress her crying, but in the background he could hear the other girls crying as well. "Yes…I mean no…I mean… How quickly can you guys get to the forest? We're right outside Red Fountain grounds. It's kind of an emergency…"

Timmy sat up in bed, "Is it the kind of emergency that can wait until morning? I mean it is midnight and-"

He was suddenly cut off by Riven's half asleep growling, "Mainframe, what the hell are you doing with my phone?" He watched as the bulky specialists sat up in his bed and glared at him with fierce eyes. Timmy wondered if Riven was actually upset, or if he was still in the state of grogginess.

Musa began talking to him again. "It can't wait Timmy. Please…just hurry and meet us here with Helia and Riven," Musa sobbed more, "Please…It's an emergency."

"I…okay Musa," he adjusted his glasses and tried to reassure her with his voice, "We'll be there as soon as possible. Everything…will be alright Musa."

He heard Musa take a deep inhale. "If only it were that easy." he heard the music fairy sob. Just as he was about to try and reassure her again she hung up the phone. Without another word Timmy got himself out of bed and tossed semi-conscious Riven his phone.

"Care to explain why you couldn't use your own phone?" Riven raised an eyebrow at the geek. Before Timmy replied he flipped on the lights in the dorm room. Riven covered his eyes in annoyance. "Hey, what in Magix are you doing? It's past midnight."

"Musa called your phone and said there was an emergency, so we have to go and meet up with them," Timmy explained and threw Riven his specialist uniform while Timmy changed into his own, "They're waiting for us just outside of campus."

Riven muttered some words to himself before looking at Timmy with disappointment. "And you actually told them we would meet up with them?" he said incredulously. Timmy knew the situation sounded dire, and something bad must have happened to make them desperate enough to travel to Red Fountain directly after their mission.

Suddenly they could hear the pacifist specialist walk through the common room, and Helia quietly walked in, half-conscious in the doorway. He looked at Timmy and Riven in surprise to see the two of them suited up in specialist apparel, "What's going on? What's this I hear about an emergency?" Helia ran a hand through his long hair and looked perplexedly at Riven and Timmy. Before showing up Helia was woken up by their conversation, and only managed to hear glimpses of it. Helia did catch that some sort of emergency had risen.

"She was crying Riven," Timmy told him bluntly which made Riven's eyes widen, "I could hear all the girls crying in the background. I don't know what's gotten into them."

"Did something happen with the girls?" Helia questioned again, still completely confused by what the other two were going on about.

Timmy pressed his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose, "If I knew the specifics I would tell you, Helia. All Musa told me was that it was an emergency that couldn't wait until morning…I think something happened on their mission."

"So get your butt motivated Helia," Riven darted his still tired eyes at Helia. Once hearing from Timmy that his Musa was crying he knew it had to be something bad. The only time she really cried was when she was talking about her mother, and even that was on a rare occasion. Musa was a strong girl. Without another word Helia darted into the other room to get ready. Riven turned his attention back to Timmy, "If this isn't a real emergency you are going to get it Mainframe I swear." He rubbed the temples of his nose to try and wake himself up, "We have classes tomorrow and-"

"Riven, if you don't want to go no one is making you," Timmy replied cautiously, "You can go back to bed if that's what you want. I'm sure it's not that big of an emergency."

"Now wait just a minute," Riven snapped back slightly appalled. He may have seemed uninterested in the small mission, but that was only because he was still half asleep. Inside he was worried sick, and wanted to get to Musa's aid as soon as possible, "It has to be a real emergency if Musa was crying like that."

"I can only hope this is a problem the specialists can handle," Timmy reasoned as they left their dorm and headed towards the forests outside Red Fountain. Little did any of them know what news the Winx Club had in store for them.

XxxxXxxxXxxxXxxx

One glance at the girls made Timmy's stomach jerk in an unsettling way. He was not used to seeing women overtly displaying their emotions. Being born into the world as the only son of two profound and stringent scientists he was never accustomed to such womanly and raw emotions. His father was there for him more than his mother, so the womanly emotions were never there. To them he was to follow in their footsteps to eventually be in the same field of science, and inventing as they were. It was not like his parents were not emotional; they were two loving parents, but he sometimes wished they were portray their emotions a bit more. Sadness and tears were uncommon for his parents so he never got accustomed to it, and they were only strict to make sure he stuck to his grades. Such emotions never had to come up in his life either. Besides that and their occupations, his parents were pretty typical.

Was this how every guy felt around a group of intensely crying girls? It felt like someone was kicking him in the stomach, and the pain just would not stop. He had this intense urge to worry, but maybe he was just overreacting. His legs felt like gelatin with every step, and he was breaking out into a nervous sweat. It didn't feel natural for Timmy to be standing near this aura of emotions eradiating off the girls. Just when Timmy thought he understood girls, he was thrown this.

As Helia, Riven, and Timmy moved closer they could see all the girls standing around in fairy forms shaking and sobbing. As they approached closer they could tell all the girls glistened with salty tears. The looks on their faces spelled out pain, but it did not appear any of them were harmed physically. Timmy could not stand to hear whatever news they had to share if they were all reduced to crying as they were. They posed a pitiful sight that made even him want to break. The first thing Timmy did was look for Tecna, hoping she could explain what had happened. She was the most composed of them all usually. Very little could break her spirit and no sacrifice was too great he had learnt in his time with her.

When his eyes did not find her bright magenta locks, his heart sink into his stomach. "No, it can't be…" Timmy thought to himself in a panic as he gazed at the group of crying girls. Tecna was nowhere to be seen.

Riven and Helia could already tell the situation involved Tecna, and that the news was not good. The other two remained as calm as possible while Timmy was barely able to contain himself. The more he looked at the trembling girls, the more he felt his body go numb and his throat stiffen. What could have happened to his girlfriend?

Flora was the first to speak up through her sorrowful tears. "…Tecna's gone," she wailed. "Tecna tried to close the Omega portal with all her power, and now, she's gone." Flora could barely speak through her overflowing tears.

"She was brave and selfless," Aisha clenched her hands into fists as more tears fell down her face, "She gave her life to save Andros." The princess's voice was tinged with rage and jealousy; rage, because a foreigner to her planet had saved her people and jealousy, because she wished it had been her to make the sacrifice. Aisha knew that she should have been the one to close it.

He looked at each of them incredulously. He was nearly convinced he was living a horrendous nightmare, but no matter how much he wished to wake up it was not happening.

Timmy, stiff as a board, clenched his hands even harder. "No, I can't do this! It's not right!" Timmy clenched his hands even harder to the point that it hurt. He was not going to believe for one millisecond that she was actually dead, and no one was going to get him to change his mind. It was not fair; Valtor would pay the next time they encountered.

Riven immediately noticed Timmy's increasing rage and sadness and put a strong reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Come on Timmy hang in there," he reassured his friend, "Keep going girls." Even Riven became increasingly concerned for him. He knew Timmy was typically the one able to keep his cool in the most dire situations, but he worried this situation might just be the one to break through him. The last thing he wanted to do was watch Timmy lose it in a situation like this.

Bloom spoke out softly through her sobs. "Her eyes. There was so much hope in her eyes." Hearing that Timmy felt like he just got punched in the stomach; now he could not get Tecna's beautiful teal eyes out of his mind, and now he may not ever get to see them again. This was not fair.

Musa gave the group a sympathetic smile through her fresh tears. "Yeah, and remember when she tried to be funny?"

"I wish I laughed more," Stella finally exploded into a waterfall of tears. It was shocking to comprehend Tecna's sacrificial act, but it was the bravest thing they ever witnessed. By doing so she gave up so much, but in turn Tecna saved so much more.

"Me too," Bloom reassured her Solarian friend.

"No, stop it!" Tears fell from Timmy's eyes and dampened his glasses. Everyone was surprised how long the specialist was able to suppress his emotions, "Tecna's not gone. She's just trapped," he said in a measured tone. He was not going to accept that Tecna was dead, because, for some unfathomable reason, he just knew that she was not dead. He felt nearly certain that she was alive and fighting for her life in the icy realm. How long would she be able to survive though? He could strongly feel her presence, and he could feel it calling out to him for help. Timmy worried that the longer he waited, the weaker his connection to Tecna would feel as she began to slip away.

Noticing Timmy was not comprehending Tecna's death Riven grabbed him roughly by each of his shoulders and tried to shake the information into him, "Timmy, Tecna disappeared inside the Omega Portal!" He hoped at this point he would understand that Tecna's sacrifice meant her life, and that she was not coming back—ever.

Musa approached the emotionally brittle specialist to offer some more insights. Musa hated to see him like this, but she needed to make sure he understood why she was gone, "The gates closed forever. There's no way—"

Timmy began to leave the group in frustration. He did not have to listen to them. "No, you're wrong. All of you!" He could not believe how easily his friends assumed she was dead, when in fact she was just trapped on the Omega Dimension.

Noticing Timmy trying to run away from his problems Riven firmly grabbed his wrist to stop him from leaving, "Timmy."

To everyone's surprise Timmy fought back and ripped his arm away from Riven's grasp, "No, let go of me!" Without a second thought the lanky specialist dashed as fast as he could back to Red Fountain. He could not stand being around the mourning Winx Club; they made him feel like Tecna was really gone. But she was not gone, she could not be gone, and he would never let her disappear from his life like this. Tecna did not deserve being trapped in the Omega Dimension.

In the randomness of his sprint he ended up just outside of Red Fountain. Just a few feet away he noticed a bench, and let his exhausted body sit on it. At this point Timmy wasn't sure where to go; Helia and Riven would surely be waiting for him if he went back to the dorm, and in the presence of the girls he could not get Tecna off his mind. He leaned forward and let his shoulders droop towards the ground without a care in the world. Red Fountain was so eerily silent with the only noise being that of nocturnal animals. He found it so hard to care about anything but Tecna, and his mind seemed to wander into the most unfortunate places.

The biggest and most depressing question on his mind was _why_. Why did she sacrifice her life? It was Aisha's planet after all, and Timmy could not find a logical explanation as to why Tecna would do it in her place. She had no reason to sacrifice herself into the Omega Portal. Was her life really nothing special to her? Did she really not value her life that much? Did she not take into consideration how this would affect him? The questions were endless, and all of them unanswerable.

"Why would she do it…?" Timmy let his body sink deeper, and his emotions sink him into a depressed void. He could not shake the thought of how painful her sacrifice could have been. What would it be like to be bombarded with the negative energy of the Omega Dimension? Timmy imagined it stinging beyond belief until it turned into a painful numbing. How she was able to reverse the direction of the negative energy back onto itself was unimaginable. It would have required a vast amount of magic, and he was sure Tecna's powers would have been completely drained after closing the portal. He only hoped she was strong enough to last without her powers for at least a little while.

Timmy's sharp ears heard the approach of footsteps. He looked up just enough to notice Riven approaching him. Riven spoke up timidly knowing Timmy could easily snap if he said the wrong thing, "Timmy you have to face reality…I know it's hard but…" Riven found he could not continue, Timmy looked too numb.

He looked at Riven with despair in his eyes. He softly spoke, "Riven…you know how sometimes you can feel someone's magic vibe?"

Riven gave Timmy a reassuring look even though he had no clue what the specialist was talking about. He sat down next to him on the bench and gave him a small smile. "Uh yeah, I think…"

Timmy griped the wooden bench with his hands as he vented out his thoughts. "Well I could always feel Tecna's real strongly, and I still can…" He wasn't sure how else to explain to Riven that he had a gut feeling that his love was still alive. He could feel Tecna's presence pulling at his emotions. Ever since he had laid eyes on her, he had always felt that he knew her feelings and sometimes her thoughts, whether he was beside her or not. At first, he had thought he had fallen into some sort of spell, but it seemed destiny could not keep them separate for long.

"Timmy…" Riven trailed off. He wished Timmy would just face reality instead of thinking Tecna was somehow still alive. She was in the second most dangerous realm after all; only trailing after Obsidian.

"No, listen to me. If she were gone there would be a void… an emptiness like all around me but there isn't. I feel her." He closed his eyes in frustration as Riven tried to find a way to comfort the bespectacled specialist as he felt Riven put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Comforting was not really Riven's forte.

"Tecna, I know you're alive and I'm going to find you I promise." It was probably one of the most unreasonable promises he ever made, but one of the strongest.

After what felt like an eternity of silence Riven spoke up cautiously, "Are you…do you want to head in or do you want more time with your thoughts?"

Timmy got up slowly, "No…I'm-I'm fine. It's really late anyway."

Riven got up and walked alongside Timmy as they strolled towards their dorm.

"Sleep is what I really need right now." He felt unbelievably tired. Timmy knew sleep would not be coming easy that night, but he knew being in bed would be a better option than just hanging out on a bench all night. It wasn't that he wanted to forget Tecna, but he wanted to rid his mind of negative thoughts for at least a couple hours. Riven silently nodded in agreement until the two reached the elevator. Timmy spoke up again softly, "Riven?"

"Yeah?"

Timmy waited for the elevator to arrive and the two stepped inside, "Do you-do you think she's still alive? Or am I just crazy thinking she is?"

Riven took many deep breaths as he tried to figure out how to answer. Would it be better to answer truthfully? Tell Timmy that he did not believe Tecna was still alive, or would it be better just to lie? Boost Timmy's confidence and hope that she was indeed alive in the frozen hell. "I can't answer that Timster…"

"Just give me some sort of answer," Timmy clenched his fists angrily, "I'm just trying to figure out if I'm being completely unreasonable...thinking she is still alive…" Timmy paused and pressed his damp glasses higher on his nose. Few stray tears streamed down his cheeks. The two stepped out of the elevator on their floor, "Riven, I don't feel logically sound and I worry I might hit my breaking point with my emotions," he admitted softly. He felt his emotions were undergoing immense pressure as he tried to figure out how to organize them in a time like this. Should being rational come before being emotional?

"You have to trust your instincts," Riven tried to reassure him, "Only you have that kind of connection to Tecna so if you still feel her presence then it must be true," Riven replied as Timmy opened the door to their dorm. The brawn specialist decided just to comfort Timmy. In reality Riven could not bring himself to tell Timmy what he really felt; that Tecna was dead.

The two specialists walked in to see Helia sitting on the couch in distress. Hearing the boys come in Helia's head perked and a sigh of relief fell over his face. He looked up at the two as they approached him. Helia face fell, "Where in Magix did you two go?"

"Sorry Helia," Timmy sighed, "I just had to get away from the girls," He clenched his hands as he remembered the sorrow in the girls faces. He inhaled deeply to calm himself.

"How are the girls doing anyway?" Riven asked as he seated himself next to Helia.

"The girls are a complete wreck...I've never seen them this emotional. I just spent the majority of my time comforting Flora, but no matter what I did she just could not get over the events that happened on Andros. I don't blame them for being so emotional though; they lost a good friend," Helia paused as he looked at Timmy with deep sincerity, "I am really sorry for your loss Timmy."

"She's not gone," Timmy corrected as he grinded his teeth; fists clenched at his sides. It wasn't typical for Timmy to get so easily enraged, but everyone in his opinion needed to come to terms that Tecna was not dead. Feeling that he might mentally snap again he merely left the room without saying a word and slammed his room door behind him. He just could not find it in himself to talk about Tecna right now. Without a care in the world he flopped himself onto his bed after stripping off his uniform. He felt too numb to jump into action even though he desperately wanted to. He closed his eyes wearily and listened in on the conversation Helia and Riven were having in the other room.

Helia turned to Riven in confusion. "What's going on Riven? What is he talking about?"

"He says he can still feel Tecna's presence in the Omega Dimension."

"So he still believes she's alive," Helia paused, "But don't you think we should let Timmy follow his instincts? I mean if he can still feel her presence there's a chance that maybe she actually is-" Helia suddenly found himself cut off by Riven.

"I think he's in denial Helia," Riven snapped back while rubbing the temples of his nose, "He told me he wasn't feeling logically sound, so odds are there's a 'glitch' in his logic and emotions."

"Harsh," Helia replied.

The brute was quick to correct him. "If I really wanted to be harsh I would have told him the truth, that she really is gone for good. If we don't support what would be best for Timmy…He might snap."

Helia was unsure about keeping this info from Timmy. "But don't you think lying to him will only hurt him more in the long run? Honesty is the best policy after all." Helia could not see how only telling Timmy the reassuring words, and not the truthful words, would be the better option. There was no telling how upset this would make Timmy.

Riven frowned and blurted out sarcastically, "Okay Helia, fine. Why don't you just go into Timmy's room and bluntly tell him that Tecna is dead and that there is no way of getting her back." He crossed his arms across his chest.

"You know that's not what I meant."

Riven replied more calmly. "All I'm saying is that we have to ease the truth onto him. I know you're going to be surprised to hear me say this Helia, but I really feel bad for him. The best we can do for him would be to lie to make him feel better. For the time being we just need to keep him motivated and happy that Tecna is still alive."

"I just feel bad for lying," Helia explained softly, "I mean what kind of friends are we if we're just going to lie to make him feel better? This isn't right; we should be trusting Timmy's vibes."

"This is what I think we should be doing, so just drop it Helia."

Helia sighed, "I just hope this is what's best for him."

Meanwhile Timmy was clenching his bed sheets in betrayal and frustration. He could hear the entire conversation between his friends, and it hurt him to no end. He could not understand why they would rather lie to keep him happy in comparison to just admitting the truth about how they felt. Timmy was so sure Riven was being sincere earlier, but at this point it didn't matter what his friends thought; if he still believed Tecna was alive then it would be so. He was certain he could feel her presence, and he was certain he did not have a 'glitch'. Timmy huffed as he realized his friends probably thought he was crazy. He was sure that Sky and Brandon would feel the same when they returned from Eraklyon. To Timmy it just seemed no one understood what he was going through and how hectic and jumbled his emotions were. His more prominent emotions seemed to change him from the once solely logic specialist.

Even with his jumbled emotions he knew he was correctly feeling her presence. All Timmy could do while he attempted to fall asleep was think about Tecna, and how he was going to find her in the Omega Dimension. Timmy was unsure if he would have the technology available to find her in a realm not meant to be accessed like this from the outside. Until Valtor escaped it was believed that anyone who entered the dimension would never return. Valtor escaped, so why couldn't Tecna?

As much as Timmy wanted to drift off to sleep, he knew it would never come. Too many worried thoughts whirled through his exhausted mind and body. It felt like all his thoughts were spinning rapidly around him in a centripetal motion. Timmy found he could not focus on one specific thought because they whirled through his mind too fast. He had Tecna's survival to worry about, his own jumbled emotions to put into order, and most importantly a way to locate Tecna in a frozen world.

He grumbled and shoved his head under this pillow, hoping to block out all nervous thoughts for at least a couple hours. Timmy could already tell this was going to be a long and sleepless night.

**A/N (Long ranting note): I've always wondered how the boys ended up outside the school with the girls at the beginning of the episode, and this was how I envisioned them finding out. It was late at night when the girls returned from Andros, so someone had to have called one of the boys to meet them outside of Red Fountain.**

**I had Musa call Riven's cell instead of one of the girls calling Timmy. I don't think any of the girls would have had the guts to call Timmy to specifically explain what happened. Besides, I doubt any of the girls (besides Tecna) would know Timmy's number anyway.**

**Then there was so little from the boy's perspective after the scene with Timmy and Riven on the bench, and Helia never said a damn thing. I understand that these boys are supposed to be strong when facing Death, but I just can't accept that. These are young men after all, and they've lost someone **_**very **_**close. Heck, even I cried when watching these episodes.**

**My other issue was trying to perceive how Riven and Helia felt about Timmy thinking Tecna is still alive. I believe Riven would have told Timmy 'exactly what he wanted to hear' just to keep his friend sane. Meanwhile Helia would have tried to be honest with how he felt, because Helia just isn't that much of a liar (unless pushed to do so by Riven). Note: Sky and Brandon are returning in Chapter 3.**

**Next chapter: Timmy's emotions sink lower, while Riven's irritability is on the rise as he tries to make it through Potionology III, and Magiphilosophy with Helia. Too bad the news has spread like wildfire around Red Fountain.**


	2. Chapter 2: Entropy

**I forgot to thank her, but thanks goes to Kikurukina Bal Des'Cagal for revising the first chapter of this story.**

Chapter 2: Entropy

_Definition (statistical mechanics):__ Measurement of the number of particular ways in which a system may be organized__; often seen as a measurement of "disorder"._

In his dream he imagined the Omega Dimension fully opened revealing a dark voided abyss. He watched in horror as he stood peering over the edge just enough to see his girlfriend flying back up through the darkness in fairy form. Just as she landed her feet firmly in front of him a hand made up of negative energy seemed to follow her out of the portal and grab onto her legs. It began pulling her back down into the Omega Portal, and Timmy immediately grabbed onto his girlfriend's hands as she was slowly pulled closer and closer towards the portal to an icy hell.

"Timmy!" Tecna shrieked as she was pulled closer to the portal, and Timmy was dragged along as well, "Don't let go of me." Fright gleamed vigorously in her eyes.

"I'll never let go again," Timmy reassured her and used the last of his slipping strength against the portals energy to stop her from falling back into the void. He squeezed her hands tighter. "You aren't leaving me Tecna."

Tears flooded down her eyes in fright as she realized she was quickly slipping away from his palms. "Please, help! I am…slipping." Just as she said this one of her arms slipped away and now she struggled to hang on with one hand. "Timmy!" Finally with one final pull her body was flung away like a ragdoll and she was dragged back down into the Omega portal.

The portal immediately closed up, and all Timmy could do was listen to her petrified screams as she became a victim to the Omega portal once more.

His eyes shot open and he sat up in a panic. He was breaking out in a cold sweat, and his body shook uncontrollably. Alone with his thoughts Timmy glanced around the room and he determined he was just having a horrific dream, but the worse part of it all was that in both realities, Tecna was gone.

He collapsed back into his pillow, and he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He felt his emotions physically cripple him. Timmy knew he would have to get up for classes soon, but who could think about school in a time like this? Even though he was never the one to miss class, he would be making an exception until Tecna was found. From now on he would have to dedicate all his time into finding her.

There was no telling how long he had to rescue her before things went from bad to worse.

But where would he begin? What type of device would find a girl lost in a frozen wasteland? Maybe if he used a DNA sample… No, he did not have any of that on hand. That would not work. Maybe just going to the Omega Dimension and searching high and low... No, that was a huge dimension composed of many quadrants and tunnels leading almost all the way to the planets core. That would take too long. Maybe sending the right radio frequency would get a hold of a communicator device, but as far as he knew she did not have one. He needed to find some sort of medium able to communicate to Tecna directly, but Timmy didn't have the fondest idea how to approach it. He sighed and decided to sleep on his ideas more.

As Timmy tried to go back to sleep he could hear his grouchy roommate enter from the other room. If he was already up then by Timmy's calculations he was getting back from the showers, and would be leaving for classes soon.

Noisily Riven dug through his drawers, and to his surprise he noticed Timmy still in bed. "Plan on getting up soon?" He asked the half asleep roommate. After a long sleepless night Timmy found himself not as angered by Riven and Helia's discussion the night before, and now he only felt slightly pestered by it. He now felt more understanding that his friends were only trying to do what they thought was right for him. They did not want to intentionally hurt his feelings.

Either way Timmy was not in the mood to be at school or around people. "No," he dug his face into his pillow, "I'm not going to class."

"But don't you have your advanced tactics class with Codatorta the terrible?" Riven attempted to lighten the mood. "You know he'll hunt down any student who purposefully skips his class, especially one who has never missed a single class." Timmy remained silent, "Take this from someone who couldn't skip his class once without getting an ear full."

"I'm sure Codatorta will understand," Timmy retorted as he sat up in bed to look at Riven. "I'm not feeling that great anyway so if anyone asks just tell them I am having a sick day..."

Riven sighed. "Listen…I know what you are going through but you shouldn't keep yourself cooped up like this. I'm sure Helia would agree with me that fresh air might do you good."

"No, I told you I'm not leaving," Timmy resisted. He adjusted his glasses. "Besides I'm sure the word about Tecna has spread around campus, so I would rather steer clear of everyone," he explained. Timmy knew everyone would be telling him they were 'sorry for his loss', but in reality Timmy knew he had no loss to begin with. "I don't need everyone's sympathy right now."

Riven shook his head. Timmy was being too isolated in his opinion, but he knew there was no point in trying to convince him anymore. Timmy still had a lot of info to take in from the previous night. "Okay, okay I get it…you don't want to be around people…I understand," Riven tried to give him a reassuring smile. To Riven Timmy seemed so out of it; as if his mind was completely blank and he was desperately searching for answers. "I'm sorry to leave you like this but I have Potionology III with Professor Osmium, and then Helia and I have Magiphilosophy class with Headmaster Saladin afterwards, so I better get going," Riven began leaving their stuffy dorm.

"Bye," Timmy gave a sympathetic glance and a wave before collapsing back into his bed. Today just was not his kind of day. He had too many unpleasant thoughts buzzing through his head, and he hoped sleep would be the perfect remedy for the time being. He needed to give his brain a rest.

XxxxXxxxXxxxXxxx

Riven glanced groggily from his notepad to Professor Osmium at the front of the room. The tall elf professor had blue eyes, fair skin, and had long blonde hair that flowed over his pointy ears and down his back. He wore a three-quarter sleeved navy dress shirt with dark dress pants. Osmium was known as one of the nicer professors at Red Fountain, but typically having a nice teacher meant hard as hell tests, assignments, and exams. At least Riven found potionology enjoyable, and it was a nice change from endurance and battle classes.

Riven peered down at his lecture note and read off in his head what was written. He had a jotted note on the ingredients for a Strengthening Elixir, "Giant's toe…Hawk beak… and the Scaly Pholiota mushroom…Seems easy enough," he thought to himself.

"Psst," he heard someone whisper. Riven peered to his left to see Bishop leaning towards him as if he wanted to talk. Bishop was a very pale and bulky specialist with a tall purple ponytail.

"What do you want Bishop?"

Bishop waited until Professor Osmium was looking in the opposite direction. "I was just wondering how Timmy was doing? I heard from Jared this morning about what happened to Tecna…That's got to be rough."

Riven grimaced at the mention of Jared. He was the specialist he nearly lost Musa to the previous year, and he was still not on good terms with. "Yeah well…at least you aren't rooming with him," Riven replied while keeping his eyes fixed on his note. "I swear he's on the verge of a mental breakdown. He wouldn't even leave for classes this morning."

"That bad huh?" Bishop questioned while jotting some notes down in his book, "Well I guess anyone would feel that way if someone sacrificed themselves like that."

"Why do you even care Bishop? It's not like you were ever that close of friends with Timmy," he darted his eyes and spoke bitterly.

"I was just wondering," he shrugged back and frowned. "Am I not allowed to ask how your roommate is feeling?" Riven went to respond, but found he could not. He did not see the reason to get so irritated by Bishop when he was just kindly asking how Timmy was doing. It was not like he was snooping or something.

"Sorry about getting a little hostile."

"It's fine," Bishop replied, "So I can imagine he's pretty isolated right now?"

"Oh defiantly, but the worst part is that he's in denial…" he explained quietly, "He still believes Tecna is alive." Riven was still concerned about Timmy, and how he still thought she was alive. He could only wonder how far he would go to 'rescue' her. Riven wondered if he would go as far as to travel to the icy realm himself.

"But there is no way she could survive on a realm designated for the worst criminals in the Magical Dimension."

Riven rolled his eyes, "Yeah well…try explaining that to Timmy."

"Don't need to get so bitter again," Bishop chuckled with a shrug as he went back to focusing on Professor Osmium's lecture. He figured by now Riven was already tired of taking about Timmy and the incident. "Picture it this way; at least you aren't in Timmy's shoes."

Hearing Bishop mention being in someone else's shoes made his mind draw to Musa. He wondered if she too was still taking the whole situation as badly as Timmy was. After all, she was Tecna's roommate for the past three years, and for the first time ever she would be sleeping in an empty room. As much as he hated to think about it, but he figured Musa had to have some sort of empty void in her heart. The Omega portal did manage to kill her best friend. Riven was sure how he felt about the whole situation was nowhere close to what Musa and Timmy were feeling.

Maybe calling Musa later would not be such a bad idea.

XxxxXxxxXxxxXxxx

"Please remind me again why I took the Magiphilosophy course?" Riven groaned at Helia as he let his face make contact with the desk.

"Because every student at Red Fountain has to take at least one social science course," Helia advised as he flipped through his notes on Magistotle. "You didn't take any up until this point, and then you forgot to pick your classes last year so they had no choice but to put you here."

"Do you honestly have to remind me every time Helia?"

"Well you complain about it before every class," Helia rolled his eyes and went back to ignoring Riven. Unlike Riven, Helia enjoyed learning about magiphilosophy. It was a nice change from all the different battle and strategic courses. In this class Helia could really let himself be taken in with the knowledge his grandfather had to share. After all, he was once a member of the Company of Light who helped defend the world from the Ancestral Witches. There was no telling the extent of his knowledge.

Riven lifted his head from his desk, "So dare I ask how Timmy was doing when you left? This morning he was still really down in the dumps."

"He was the same I guess…Seemed secluded," Helia explained calmly. "It was a struggle to get him to communicate at all with me. I'm really worried he's hitting a psychological breaking point, and I'm not sure what to do," Helia pondered in deep thought. It wasn't the fact that Timmy was especially quiet that morning, but it was more that Timmy's emotions seemed to be constantly changing as if he didn't know how to feel. One minute he was blistering with fury, the next he was drenched in his own sorrow, and then the next moment he seemed to not have any emotions whatsoever.

"Yeah well we can't just let Timmy isolate himself in his dorm all day," Riven sighed as he looked at his watch and noticed class was not going to begin for another five or so minutes. "I'm sure Codatorta wasn't too pleased with Timmy's absence this morning."

"You'd be surprised," a voice replied from behind Helia and Riven. The two turned around to see a navy haired specialist with bright amber eyes. "Codatorta the terrible isn't always so terrible…"

Riven narrowed his eyes at a certain specialist he was not too fond of. "What do you want Jared?" Ever since knowing he once had a huge crush on Musa, Riven could not help but feel cautious around him. The threat of losing Musa to him still loomed overhead in his mind. "Have you been eavesdropping on our conversation?"

"It's kind of hard not to when you talk so loud," Jared explained, which made Riven grit his teeth, "And I was just wondering how you-know-who is doing with the Omega sacrifice?"

"It's none of your business Jared," Riven bluntly replied before going back and resting his head on his desk. He hoped this would be a telltale sign to Jared to screw off, and he hoped resting like this would also pass time before class started.

"Ignore him," Helia smiled kindly at Jared. "And I guess you could say Timmy's emotionally unstable. He is having trouble coming to terms with her death and sacrifice."

"It seems everyone is having a hard time coming to terms that someone from the notorious Winx Club is gone," Jared replied softly. "I know Musa has been taking it really hard, the poor girl."

Hearing Jared mention Musa made his ears perk with distrust. Riven never forgot about Jared and his crush on Musa, and hearing Jared bring her up only infuriated him. How would _he _know how Musa felt about Tecna? Something did not add up.

Without wasting another second Riven sprang up from his chair, reached across Jared's desk, and grabbed him by his collar in anger. In the sudden combustion of Riven's actions he managed to startle Helia enough to make him tumble out of his seat. By this point all the other students in the class had their eyes fixed on Riven and Jared. He struggled in the brutes grips, "Hey! Wh-what did I do?"

Riven did not care that everyone was staring at the two of them. He tightened his grip on the scruff of his shirt, "Have you been around my girlfriend lately?"

"Wh-what! No, no I haven't at all!" Jared nervously told him, "I-I-I haven't spoken to her, honest!"

"Then how come you know how Musa feels about Tecna's death?" Riven blurted out through clenched teeth, "I don't have much patience Jared."

Noticing how quickly Riven was escalating the situation Helia sprang back up from the floor and back onto his feet, "Oh for the love of… Riven let him go."

"It was my girlfriend!" Jared pleaded, "My girlfriend goes to Alfea, and has spoken to Musa. She told me everything Musa told her I swear!" Jared looked at him fearfully, feeling as though Riven might beat him to a pulp.

"I find that hard to believe."

"No, I'm being honest!"

"Riven, let him go," Helia grabbed Riven's arm and pried them away from Jared, "You jump to conclusions way to easily."

"I haven't been around your girlfriend," Jared sighed and straightened out his wrinkled shirt, "Alice has been talking to Musa and the other girls, because she was just wondering how everyone was doing."

"Alice?" Riven questioned.

"My girlfriend."

"Oh," he dumbly shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah," Jared replied, "Alice told me Musa was feeling really lonely, and she too has isolated herself quite a bit. All the girls don't know how to react or feel at the moment."

"Rough," Helia commented as they all sat back in their seats.

"Alice even told me the girls are disbanding the group," Jared stated.

"What?!" Riven and Helia jaws dropped.

Jared looked sadly at them and elaborated, "Yeah, they want to disband the group after they defeat Valtor. You know…because the Winx Club will never be complete anymore. Once Valtor is defeated that's the end of the Winx Club."

"Did you know about this?" Riven whispered to Helia, which only made him nod no as a response. "There's no way the girls will disband the group after all they've been through together."

"Yeah, but you have to remember that the group isn't whole anymore," Helia explained, "It's been figuratively shattered so to speak."

"Yeah I get it Helia," Riven mumbled as they all turned attentively to Headmaster Saladin. He was now standing at the front of the room ready to start lecturing on magiphilosophy. While Helia was able to concentrate, Riven found it increasingly hard to. It bothered him to know that the loss of one person could manage to break such a tight group. He became increasingly more worried about Musa and how she was feeling. If the loss of Tecna was going to disband the group, then Musa must be really emotionally torn. At this point all he wanted to do was call her, and know _exactly _how she felt. The last thing he wanted was for Musa to emotionally breakdown like Timmy.

XxxxXxxxXxxxXxxx

As soon as class ended Riven spared no time to literally leap from his desk with his stuff, and make a dash out the classroom door. All he wanted to do at this point was whip out his cell, and casually call Musa. Of course he did not want to sound _too _worried, because of course he had to keep up his bad boy image. But then again, what good would be upheld by trying to stay monotone?

Helia sighed and shook his head with a small smile as he witnessed Riven's mad dash out of the classroom. He knew _exactly _what Riven was going to do, or rather _who _he was going to talk to. Helia was not really that surprised to see Riven wanting to communicate with Musa that badly. It really did seem Tecna's sacrifice was bringing out the abnormal side in everyone, and at the moment Helia felt like the only somewhat sane one out of the leftover specialists. On Helia's figurative left he had an even more irritable Riven, and on his right he had Timmy who was riding an emotional roller coaster.

With such new and contrasting personalities Helia was surprised their group was not torn apart by now. Brandon and Sky were due to return any day now, and he could only wonder if those two specialists would be able to assist with Timmy's situation.

Helia was so deep in thought as he sat and collected all his stuff off his desk that he did not notice his grandfather approaching him. At this point the entire class was deserted, and Helia was the only student left in class.

"Helia," Saladin smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. It immediately caught Helia off guard and he looked at his grandfather, startled.

"Oh, h-hello grandfather," Helia sighed with a small smile, "I didn't see you there."

"It's quite alright Helia," Saladin paused as he immediately noticed Helia seemed somewhat spaced out. Saladin wasted no time when getting to the root of a problem, "Is there something wrong? You seem troubled." Being an artistic student it was common for Helia to be in deep thought about art inspirations, but this time he looked like he was in a distressed thought.

He took a deep breath. "No, I'm fine," he calmly replied; even though it was a flat out lie.

Saladin gripped his golden staff tighter and gave Helia a stern look. "Are you sure, grandson?"

Helia looked sympathetically at his relative even though he was not feeling okay. "It's just... My roommates Riven, and especially Timmy are dealing with troubling times right now. Everyone is trying to deal with the Omega sacrifice…I'm sure you've heard about it from Headmistress Faragonda."

"Ah, yes…" Saladin sighed with a frown; recollecting thoughts. Faragonda informed him as soon as she heard the devastating news. It was sad to know that the young Guardian Fairy of Zenith would sacrifice so much for the behalf of the universe, "The Alfea student who gave her life for the Magical Dimension…A tragedy but a courageous act nonetheless." He was unsure if Helia truly understood what would have happened if the portal stayed open. If it would have stayed open the Magical Dimension would have been facing a threat just as great and destructive as the return of the Ancestral Witches. The negative energy released from the portal had the potency to destroy entire realms if they were bombarded with the energy for long enough.

"Yeah, it's really affected my roommates in a negative way," Helia explained softly, "Timmy wouldn't even go to class this morning because of how miserable he was feeling." It worried Helia because Timmy would always put his grades first, and would never miss school like this. How many more days would Timmy be willing to skip? It seemed a new Timmy was emerging in Helia's eyes, and this one was much more emotional than the first.

"I see…That is quite awful," Saladin pondered as he leaned more on his staff, "How many days do you think he will be absent?" He questioned.

"I'm not entirely sure," Helia admitted with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I really don't think he'll be attending classes until he's resolved his problems, and there's no telling how long that will take."

The two remained silent for a bit as they were both trapped in their own deep thoughts. Saladin finally gave Helia a sympathetic smile. "Helia, can you do something for me?"

"O-of course grandfather, anything," he spoke as formally as he could as he stood up from his seat.

"When you return to your residence I need you to tell Timmy to come to my office today when he has the chance. I need to speak to him privately," Saladin paused, "It won't be a long talk, but I feel if one of my pupils; especially one with an attendance record like Timmy's is being put at risk like this, then I must intervene in some way."

Helia gave a compassionate smile. "So you'll try and get through to him?"

"I can't say for sure," Saladin quickly corrected, "Death is not an easy concept for some to comprehend Helia; especially for someone not used to seeing death on a personal level like this before. It may just take time for one to finally comprehend and move on. I just want to see how he is doing, talk, and hopefully give him enough insights to pull himself out of this state he seems to be in."

"Thank you for taking the time to talk to him," Helia thanked in advance knowing that letting Timmy talk to the Headmaster would straighten his head. Someone with as much knowledge as his grandfather would surely straighten Timmy out and knock some reasonable sense into him.

"I may be Headmaster of Red Fountain, but I still have time for all my students Helia."

It comforted Helia to know that Saladin still cared for all his pupils. Even though he was in charge of a prestigious all male school, the Headmaster was still a compassionate and heart-filled man. Of course his grandfather knew times when he needed to be strict, and the times he didn't need to be so harsh on the boys. However, the times where he chose not to be strict were on a rare occasion. Helia felt confident that he would be able to talk some rational sense into Timmy. If neither Riven nor he could talk through to Timmy; his grandfather definitely could.

The only issue standing in the way now was whether or not Timmy would accept the help offered to him.

**A.N (Another damn long note): Timmy not going to **_**class**_**!? That must be a real shocker. I see Timmy as the student with perfect attendance, and the fact he misses a class (Or 2…or 3… in the near future) it becomes a big deal around campus because of his attendance record.**

**Professor Osmium is my version of Red Fountain's potionology professor. Notice how Palladium and Osmium are both elements from the Periodic Table? Chemistry reference for the win!**

**Easter egg: The ingredients for the Strengthening Elixir mentioned in Riven's potionology class are ingredients used to make a Strength potion in Skyrim. **

**Not much to say about Bishop; he found out about Tecna through Jared, who found out through Alice, who found out through Musa. (Damn the news really spreads). I always imagine Riven and Bishop having a **_**bit **_**of a rivalry because they both seem like brutes, hence why Riven doesn't act the most pleasant towards Bishop. Well…that and Riven is becoming irritated and worried as hell. **

**Magistotle: The Magical Dimensions version of Aristotle.**

**Then there's Jared. Jared…Jared…Jared… Let's face it; Riven probably still detests the guy. After all, he did have a crush on Musa and he thought he was going to lose Musa to him. Then there's the fact the two seem to have contrasting personalities (Riven is a strong, easily angered, brute, while Jared is a skinny, meek, and quiet guy) that makes them not really compatible. **

**We all know Riven would jump to conclusions at a time like this if he heard a rival talk about Musa. I almost feel bad for making Riven nearly beat Jared to a pulp, but hey, no physical harm was actually done.**

**Alice is indeed Jared's love interest in the show. She is an ice fairy at Alfea with blue-grey (very similar to Helia's) hair, pale skin, and blue-grey eyes. I made her a key communication factor in this story; the other specialists had to have found out **_**somehow**_**. I'm not entirely sure this would be a topic coming up on Magix's version of Facebook.**

**Saladin to all other students would be strict, but to Helia he has to show **_**some **_**sort of heart. In private he is a grandfather figure to Helia, and Helia is his grandson. As strict as he may be he still cares about his students; especially one of his star pupils. It's just like how Griffin, and Faragonda care very much for their students and their well-being.**

**Next chapter: Riven tries to have a heart to heart talk with Musa and tries to get to the roots of her emotions. Meanwhile Helia confronts Timmy back at the dorm, and realizes Timmy's emotions have hit their brink.**


End file.
